Object detecting system

ABSTRACT

An object detecting system, which is installed in a vehicle, uses a camera comprising an optical lens, a distance measuring image chip, and an illumination device to detect information about an object occupying a vehicle seat. The illumination device is sectioned into a plurality of illuminants, such as a first illuminant and a second illuminant, so that the light emitting modes of the illuminants are controlled to be changed individually.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to an object detecting system to beinstalled in a vehicle and, more particularly, to a technology fordetecting information about an object occupying a vehicle seat.

Conventionally, there are known various technologies for detectinginformation about an object occupying a vehicle seat by using aphotographing mechanism such as a camera. For example, Japanese PatentUnexamined Publication No. 2003-294855 (which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety) discloses a configuration of anoccupant detecting apparatus in which a single camera arranged in frontof a vehicle occupant is used to detect the position of the vehicleoccupant.

SUMMARY

An exemplary embodiment relates to an object detecting system. Thesystem comprises a light emitting mechanism which emits light toward anobject occupying a vehicle seat and which is sectioned into a pluralityof light emitting sections of which light emitting modes areindividually controlled, a control mechanism to control the lightemitting mechanism, a photographing mechanism including an optical lensand a distance measuring image chip, wherein light emitted from thelight emitting mechanism and reflected by the object is incident on thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens and is focusedinto a focusing area of the distance measuring image chip, and aprocessing mechanism to derive information about the object from thefocused image on the distance measuring image chip of the photographingmechanism.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to an operation device controlsystem. The system comprises an object detecting system. The objectdetecting system comprises a light emitting mechanism which emits lighttoward an object occupying a vehicle seat and which is sectioned into aplurality of light emitting sections of which light emitting modes areindividually controlled, a control mechanism to control the lightemitting mechanism, a photographing mechanism including an optical lensand a distance measuring image chip, wherein light emitted from thelight emitting mechanism and reflected by the object is incident on thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens and is focusedinto a focusing area of the distance measuring image chip, and aprocessing mechanism to derive information about the object from thefocused image on the distance measuring image chip of the photographingmechanism. The system further includes an operation device which isoperated based on the information about the object occupying the vehicleseat derived by the processing mechanism of the object detecting systemand an actuation control mechanism to control the actuation of theoperation device.

Yet another exemplary embodiment relates to a vehicle. The vehiclecomprises an engine/running system, an electrical system, an actuationcontrol device for conducting the actuation control of theengine/running system and the electrical system, and an object detectingmechanism for detecting information about an object occupying a vehicleseat. The object detecting mechanism comprises an object detectingsystem including a light emitting mechanism which emits light toward anobject occupying a vehicle seat and which is sectioned into a pluralityof light emitting sections of which light emitting modes areindividually controlled, a control mechanism to control the lightemitting mechanism, a photographing mechanism including an optical lensand a distance measuring image chip, wherein light emitted from thelight emitting mechanism and reflected by the object is incident on thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens and is focusedinto a focusing area of the distance measuring image chip, and aprocessing mechanism to derive information about the object from thefocused image on the distance measuring image chip of the photographingmechanism.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only,and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following description, appendedclaims, and the accompanying exemplary embodiments shown in thedrawings, which are briefly described below.

FIG. 1( a) is an illustration showing an object detecting systemaccording to an embodiment which is installed in a vehicle.

FIG. 1( b) is an illustration showing an interior space of a vehicle andan exemplary location of the object detecting system in the vehicle.

FIG. 2 is an illustration showing a detailed structure of anillumination device as an illumination device of a first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an illustration showing a structure of an illumination deviceof a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the control of the illumination device ofthe second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an illustration showing a detailed structure of anillumination device of a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an illustration showing components of a vehicle according toan embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In a case of using a camera to detect information about a vehicleoccupant just like the occupant detecting apparatus disclosed in theaforementioned Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2003-294855,the quantity of light focused into a focusing area of an image chipthrough an optical lens is decreased at the peripheral area. Thisphenomenon becomes significant as the viewing angle of the camera isincreased. In addition, the distortion of an image focused in thefocusing area of the image chip is increased at the peripheral area ascompared to the central area, thus deteriorating the accuracy ofdetection of the vehicle occupant. Particularly in the case of using a3-D camera to detect information about distances relative to a vehicleoccupant for the purpose of obtaining detailed information such as theposition, posture, physical size, and motion of the vehicle occupant,there must be deterioration and variation in precision of detecteddistances relative to the vehicle occupant so that it is difficult toobtain desired information precisely. Accordingly, in designing thedetecting system, an effective technology for detecting desiredinformation of the object precisely is demanded.

Exemplary embodiments are made in view of the above, and it is an objectof an embodiment to provide an effective technology for preciselydetecting desired information of an object occupying a vehicle seat.

Though embodiments can be adapted to an object detecting system fordetecting information about an object occupying a vehicle seat in anautomobile, embodiments can also be adapted to a technology for anobject detecting system in a vehicle other than an automobile, such asan airplane, boat, train, bus, and the like.

An object detecting system of a first embodiment is a system whichdetects information about an object occupying a vehicle seat and whichcomprises a light emitting mechanism, a control mechanism, aphotographing mechanism, and a processing mechanism. The object usedhere can include a vehicle occupant, an object placed on a vehicle seat,a child seat, a junior seat, or any other suitable object on a vehicleseat. In addition, information about the object can include informationabout presence, size, position, distance, posture, motion of the object,and light emitting quantity (light distribution amount) and brightnessrelative to the object. When the object is a vehicle occupant, theinformation about the object can include the presence of a vehicleoccupant, the size (physique class) of the vehicle occupant, position ofthe vehicle occupant, distances relative to the vehicle occupant,positions and configurations of body parts of the vehicle occupant,posture of the vehicle occupant, motion of the vehicle occupant, lightemitting quantity (light distribution amount) relative to the vehicleoccupant, and brightness relative to the vehicle occupant.

The light emitting mechanism is a mechanism for emitting light towardthe object occupying the vehicle seat. Light emitting mechanisms aretypically composed of various lamps. The light emitting mechanism is anilluminant for irradiating light to the object occupying the vehicleseat. The actuation of the light emitting mechanism can be controlled bya control mechanism.

The photographing mechanism comprises an optical lens and a distancemeasuring image chip. Light emitted from the light emitting mechanismand reflected by the object occupying the vehicle seat is incident onthe distance measuring image chip through the optical lens and isfocused into the focusing area of the distance measuring image chip. Theoptical lens can be formed by coupling a plurality of lenses. Thedistance measuring image chip is typically a CCD (charge-coupled device)chip in a 3-D camera capable of measuring distance relative to theobject. Therefore, a 3-D camera may be employed as a photographingmechanism.

The processing mechanism is adapted to derive information about theobject from the focused image on the distance measuring image chip ofthe photographing mechanism. The processing mechanism has an imageprocessing function of controlling the camera to obtain good qualityimages and for controlling the image processing for processing the takenimages for analysis and a storing function of storing (recording) anoperation control software, data for correction, buffer frame memory forpreprocessing, defined data for recognition computing, referencepatterns.

In an embodiment, the aforementioned light emitting mechanism issectioned into a plurality of light emitting sections of which lightemitting modes are individually controlled. That is, the light emittingmechanism has such a structure that the control of the light emittingmode of each light emitting section can be conducted individually. Thelight emitting mode can include quantity of emitting light, time ofturning on light, time of turning off light, and time and speed ofblinking, and the like.

According to the structure as mentioned above, the light emitting modeof the light emitting section corresponding to an object desired to bedetected or a light emitting section corresponding to a part desired tobe detected among parts of the object can be individually set.Therefore, it is possible to precisely detect information about theobject occupying the vehicle seat by using the photographing mechanism.

Information about the object detected by the object detecting system canbe used for controlling an occupant restraining mechanism forrestraining a vehicle occupant, such as an airbag device, a seat beltdevice, and a warning apparatus for outputting warning signals (display,sound and so on).

In the object detecting system of a second embodiment, the lightemitting modes of the light emitting sections in the light emittingmechanism are controlled in such a manner that the quantity of incidentlight (sometimes called “quantity of reflected light”) on the distancemeasuring image chip is equalized to the respective portions of thefocusing area.

In the case of using the photographing mechanism as mentioned above todetect information about the object, it is known that the accuracy ofdetection of the vehicle occupant is deteriorated because of thefollowing reasons. That is, the quantity of light focused into afocusing area of the distance measuring image chip through the opticallens is decreased at the peripheral area. This phenomenon becomessignificant as the viewing angle of the camera is increased. Inaddition, the distortion of an image focused in the focusing area of theimage chip is increased at the peripheral area as compared to thecentral area. Particularly, in the case of using a 3-D camera to detectinformation about distances relative to an object for the purpose ofobtaining detailed information such as the position, posture, size, andmotion of the object, there must be deterioration and variation inaccuracy of detected distances relative to the object so that it isdifficult to obtain desired information.

In exemplary embodiments, the light emitting modes of the light emittingsections are controlled to be changed such that the quantity of incidentlight on the distance measuring image chip is equalized to respectiveportions of the focusing area. This arrangement is achieved by varyingthe matrix density of light emitting lamps composing the respectivelight emitting sections or varying the light quantities and/or the lightemitting patterns of the respective light emitting sections. Thearrangement may be achieved when assembling this system into a vehicleor achieved by control of changing the light emitting modes based ondetection results of information about the quantity of incident light.The equalization of the quantity of incident light used here can be astate that the quantity of light incident on the distance measuringimage chip is in a predetermined suitable range at each of therespective portions of the focusing area. The only requirement is thatthe incident light quantities at the respective portions of the focusingarea are substantially equal.

As mentioned above, there may be specific issues with optical lens suchthat the quantity of light focused into the focusing area of thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens is reduced at theperipheral portion and the accuracy of detection of the object isreduced depending on the position. The issues become significant as theviewing angle of the camera is increased. According to the structure ofthe object detecting system of the second embodiment, the problems canbe solved by the arrangement of the light emitting sections. Therefore,it is possible to precisely detect information about the objectoccupying the vehicle seat by using the photographing mechanism.

In the object detecting system of a third embodiment, the light emittingmechanism includes a first light emitting section and a second lightemitting section. The first light emitting section emits light to beincident on a central portion of an aperture area of an objective lensof the optical lens. The second light emitting section emits light to beincident on a peripheral portion of the aperture area of the objectivelens such that the quantity of light emitted from the second lightemitting section is larger than the quantity of light emitted from thefirst light emitting section. The aperture area of the objective lens isan area, on which light is incident, of a lens (objective lens) which isnearest to the object to be detected among a plurality of lensescomposing the optical lens. Accordingly, the quantity of light focusedon the distance measuring image chip through the peripheral portion ofthe aperture area of the objective lens is increased, thereby improvingthe accuracy of detection of the object to be detected by the portioncorresponding to the peripheral portion of the focusing area.

As mentioned above, there may be issues specific to optical lens suchthat the quantity of light focused into the focusing area of thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens is reduced at theperipheral portion and the distortion of image focused into the focusingarea of the distance measuring image chip is increased at the peripheralportion as compared to the central portion. The issues can becomesignificant as the viewing angle of the camera is increased. Accordingto the structure of the object detecting system of the embodiment, theissues can be solved by the arrangement of the first light emittingsection and the second light emitting section.

In the object detecting system of a fourth embodiment, the processingmechanism is adapted to derive information about position, informationabout distance, and information about motion as the information aboutthe object. In addition, the control mechanism controls to changes thelight emitting modes of the light emitting sections based on at leastone of the information about position, the information about distance,and the information about motion derived by the processing mechanism.

Therefore, according to the aforementioned structure of the objectdetecting system of the fourth embodiment, the accuracy of calculationof the light quantity and the light emitting pattern of the lightemitting sections can be improved by controlling the light emittingmodes of the light emitting sections to be changed based on theinformation about position, the information about distance, and/or theinformation about motion of the object.

In the object detecting system of a fifth embodiment, the light emittingmechanism includes a driver-seat-side light emitting section, afront-passenger-seat-side light emitting section, and a rear-seat-sidelight emitting section. The driver-seat-side light emitting section is alight emitting section which emits light toward an object on a driverseat. The front-passenger-seat-side light emitting section is a lightemitting section which emits light toward an object on a front passengerseat. The rear-seat-side light emitting section is a light emittingsection which emits light toward an object on a rear seat.

According to the aforementioned structure of the object detecting systemof the fifth embodiment, illuminants are arranged only at locationsrequiring light distribution, thereby enabling miniaturization ofilluminating part. In addition, the illumination device can conductlight distribution of high directivity relative to objects occupying therespective vehicle seat and is thus reasonable.

In the object detecting system of a sixth embodiment, the controlmechanism, based on information about an object occupying any of thevehicle seats, changes the light emitting mode of the light emittingsection corresponding to the object. The presence of the object on eachof the vehicle seats may be detected by the photographing mechanism or aseat sensor.

According to the aforementioned structure of the object detecting systemof the sixth embodiment, only when an object occupying a vehicle seat isdetected, the illuminant corresponding to the object is controlled to beactuated. According to this control, it is not necessary to emit lighttoward a vehicle seat without any object, thereby reducing electricpower consumption and improving the durability of the illuminants (lightemitting lamps). As for the improvement of the durability, high effectcan be obtained at the illuminants (light emitting lamps) correspondingto the front passenger seat and the rear seat because these are lessfrequently used than that corresponding to the driver seat.

The operation device control system of a seventh embodiment comprises anobject detecting system, an operation device which is operated based onthe information about the object occupying the vehicle seat derived bythe processing mechanism of the object detecting system and an actuationcontrol mechanism for controlling the actuation of the operation device.The operation device of the embodiment includes a warning device foroutputting warning signals and an occupant restraining device forrestraining a vehicle occupant by an airbag and/or a seat belt.

Therefore, according to the structure of the operation device controlsystem of the seventh embodiment, the operation device can be controlledto be actuated in a suitable mode according to detection results aboutthe object derived by the processing mechanism of the object detectingsystem, thereby enabling detailed control for the operation device.

The vehicle of an eighth embodiment, comprises an engine/running system,an electrical system, an actuation control device, and an objectdetecting mechanism. The engine/running system is a system involving anengine and a running mechanism of the vehicle. The electrical system isa system involving electrical parts used in the vehicle. The actuationcontrol device is a device having a function of conducting the actuationcontrol of the engine/running system and the electrical system. Theobject detecting mechanism is a mechanism for detecting informationabout an object occupying a vehicle seat. In this embodiment, the objectdetecting mechanism comprises an object detecting system such asdescribed in one of the above embodiments.

According to this arrangement, there is provided a vehicle mounted withan object detecting system in which information about an objectoccupying a vehicle seat can be precisely detected by a photographingmechanism.

As described above, the embodiment relate to a structure for detectinginformation about an object occupying a vehicle seat by a photographingmechanism comprising an optical lens and a distance measuring image chipand a light emitting mechanism. Particularly, the light emittingmechanism for emitting light toward the object occupying the vehicleseat is sectioned into a plurality of light emitting sections of whichlight emitting modes are controlled individually, thereby preciselydetecting information about the object occupying the vehicle seat.

Hereinafter, description will be made with regard to an embodiment of anobject detecting system 100 (object detecting mechanism) with referenceto FIG. 1( a) through FIG. 5.

The structure of the object detecting system 100, which is installed ina vehicle, of this embodiment is shown in FIG. 1( a).

The object detecting system 100 of this embodiment is constructed as asystem for detecting information about an object such as a vehicleoccupant in a vehicle compartment of an automobile. As shown in FIG. 1(a), the object detecting system 100 comprises a photographing device110, an illumination device 130, and a control/computing unit 155.

Further, the object detecting system 100 cooperates with an ECU 200 asan actuation control device of the vehicle and an occupant restrainingmechanism 210 to compose an occupant restraining apparatus forrestraining a vehicle occupant in the event of a vehicle collision. Theautomobile 300 comprises, (as shown in FIG. 6) an engine/running system310 involving an engine and a running mechanism of the vehicle, anelectrical system 320 involving electrical parts used in the vehicle,and the actuation control device (ECU 200) for conducting the actuationcontrol of the engine/running system and the electrical system.

The photographing device 110 of this embodiment includes a camera 112 asa photographic device and a data transmitting circuit (not shown). Thecamera 112 is a 3-D (three-dimensional) camera (sometimes called“monitor”) of a CCD (charge-coupled device) type in which light sensorsare arranged into an array (lattice) arrangement. The camera 112comprises an optical lens 114 and a distance measuring image chip 116.The optical lens 114 is formed by coupling a plurality of lenses and thedistance measuring image chip 116 is a CCD (charge-coupled device) chipin a 3-D camera. In the camera 112, light which is incident on thedistance measuring image chip 116 through the optical lens 114 isfocused into a focusing region of the distance measuring image chip 116.Information about distances relative to the object is measured by thecamera 112 having the aforementioned structure a plurality of times,thereby detecting three-dimensional surface profile which is used forrecognition of the presence, size, position, and posture of the object.Information about quantity or brightness of light which is incident onthe distance measuring image chip 116 through the optical lens 114 isalso detected by the camera 112. As the camera 112, a monocular C-MOS3-D camera or a pantoscopic stereo 3-D camera may be used.

The camera 112 of this embodiment is placed and embedded in a peripheralportion of an inner rear view mirror, peripheral portions of sidemirrors, the ceiling, and/or a center portion in the lateral directionof a dashboard and is arranged to face one or a plurality of passengerseats. By using the camera 112, information about the object occupying avehicle seat such as a driver seat, a front passenger seat, or a rearpassenger seat is measured a plurality of times periodically. The objectdetecting system 100 of the embodiment is provided with a power sourcefor supplying electric power of a vehicular battery to the camera 112,but not shown. The camera 112 is set to be actuated, for example, whenan ignition key is turned on or when a seat sensor (not shown) installedin the driver seat detects a vehicle occupant seated in the driver seat.In FIG. 1( b), an exemplary embodiment is shown in which the objectdetecting system 100 is embedded in a portion of a dashboard 50 in thevehicle 300.

The illumination device 130 of this embodiment comprises at least afirst illuminant 131 and a second illuminant 132, a first drivingsection 133 and a second driving section 134. The first illuminant 131is driven by the first driving section 133 and the second illuminant 132is driven by the second driving section 134. Light emitted from thefirst illuminant 131 and the second illuminant 132 and reflected by theobject C is distributed to the camera 112. The first driving section 133and the second driving section 134 drive the respective illuminantsaccording to control signals from the control/computing unit 155. Thefirst driving section 133 and the second driving section 134 may bestructured as a single driving section. The light emitting mechanism ofan embodiment includes the first illuminant 131 and the secondilluminant 132. The control mechanism of an embodiment includes thefirst driving section 133, the second driving section 134, and thecontrol/computing unit 155.

The control/computing unit 155 of this embodiment comprises an imageprocessing mechanism 152, a computing mechanism (MPU: micro processingunit) 154, a storing mechanism 156, an input/output mechanism 158, and aperipheral device (not shown). The control/computing unit 155 is amechanism for deriving information about the object occupying thevehicle seat based on images obtained by the camera 112. The processingmechanism of an embodiment includes the control computing unit 155.

The image processing mechanism 152 is a mechanism for controlling thecamera to obtain good quality images and for controlling the imageprocessing for processing images taken by the camera 112 to be used foranalysis. Specifically, as for the control of the camera, the framerate, the shutter speed, the sensitivity setting, and the accuracy arecorrected and the dynamic range, the brightness, and the white balanceare adjusted. As for the control of the image processing, the spincompensation for image, the correction for distortion of the lens, thefiltering operation, the difference operation as image preprocessingoperations are conducted and the configuration determination and thetrucking as image recognition processing operations are conducted.

The computing mechanism 154 carries out a process of extractinginformation about the object based on the information from the imageprocessing mechanism 152. Specifically, information about the presence,size, position, and posture of the object are extracted (derived). Whenthe object is a vehicle occupant, the presence of a vehicle occupant,the size (physique class) of the vehicle occupant, positions of theoccupant's head, shoulder, and upper body, and whether the occupant isout-of-position (OOP) are extracted (derived).

The storage mechanism 156 is a mechanism for storing (recording) datafor correction, buffer frame memory for preprocessing, defined data forrecognition computing, reference patterns, and the computed results ofthe computing mechanism 154 a well as an operation control software.

The input/output mechanism 158 inputs information about the vehicle,information about traffic conditions around the vehicle, informationabout weather condition and about time zone, and the like to the ECU 200for conducting controls of the entire vehicle and outputs recognitionresults. As the information about the vehicle, there are, for example,the state (open or closed) of a vehicle door, the wearing state of theseat belt, the operation of brakes, the vehicle speed, and the steeringangle. In this embodiment, based on the information outputted from theinput/output mechanism 158, the ECU 200 outputs actuation controlsignals to the occupant restraining mechanism 210 as a subject to beactuated. The occupant restraining mechanism 210 may be an apparatus forrestraining an occupant such as an airbag and a seat belt. The occupantdevice of an embodiment includes the occupant restraining mechanism 210.The actuation control mechanism of an embodiment includes the ECU 200for controlling the actuation of the occupant restraining mechanism 210.In addition to the occupant restraining mechanism 210 or instead of theoccupant restraining mechanism 210, the actuation of a warning devicefor outputting warning signals (display, sound and so on) may becontrolled by the ECU 200.

The illumination device 130 having the aforementioned structure will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 shows detailedstructures of the illumination device 130 of a first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the illumination device 130 of the first embodimenthas a structure in which a large number of light emitting lamps arearranged on a facing surface 130 a facing the object. Among the lightemitting lamps, a plurality of light emitting lamps arranged in acentral area 131 a of the facing surface 130 a compose the firstilluminant 131 and a plurality of light emitting lamps arranged in aperipheral area 132 a around the central area 131 a compose the secondilluminant 132. In this embodiment, the number of light emitting lampsper unit area (the matrix density of light emitting lamps) in the firstilluminant 131 is smaller than that (matrix density) of the secondilluminant 132. Light emitted from the first illuminant 131 andreflected by an object C is incident on a central area of the distancemeasuring image chip 116 through a central portion of the aperture areaof an objective lens of the optical lens 114 in the camera 112, whilelight emitted from the second illuminant 132 and reflected by the objectC is incident on a peripheral area of the distance measuring image chip116 (a portion around the central area of the distance measuring imagechip 116) through a peripheral portion of the aperture area of theobjective lens (a portion around the central portion of the aperturearea of the objective lens) of the optical lens 114 in the camera 112.The aperture area of the objective lens is an area allowing incident oflight in a lens (objective lens), disposed nearest to the object to bedetected, among the plurality of lenses composing the optical lens 114.

In the case of using the camera 112 as used in this embodiment, thequantity of light focused into a focusing area of the distance measuringimage chip 116 through the optical lens 114 is decreased at theperipheral area. This phenomenon becomes significant as the viewingangle of the camera 112 is increased. In addition, the distortion of animage focused in the focusing area of the distance measuring image chip116 is increased at the peripheral area as compared to the central area,thus deteriorating the accuracy of detection of the object. Particularlyin the case of using a 3-D camera to detect information about distancesrelative to a vehicle occupant for the purpose of obtaining detailedinformation such as the position, posture, and physical size of thevehicle occupant, there must be deterioration and variation in accuracyof detected distances relative to the vehicle occupant so that it isdifficult to obtain desired information.

In this embodiment, the plurality of light emitting lamps are sectioned(divided) into two blocks, i.e. the first illuminant 131 and the secondilluminant 132, in such a manner that the quantity of incident light(sometimes called “quantity of reflected light”) onto the distancemeasuring image chip 116 is equalized to respective portions in thefocusing area and that the first illuminant 131 is made as an illuminanthaving a relatively small quantity of light (relatively darkilluminant), while the second illuminant 132 is made as an illuminanthaving a relatively large quantity of light (relatively brightilluminant). Accordingly, the quantity of light of the first illuminant131 emitting light to be incident on the central portion of the aperturearea of the objective lens 114 is restrained relative to the quantity oflight of the second illuminant 132 emitting light to be incident on theperipheral portion of the aperture area of the objective lens 114.Specifically, the matrix density of the light emitting lamps of thefirst illuminant 131 and the matrix density of the light emitting lampsof the second illuminant 132 are set in such a manner that the quantityof light incident on the central area of the distance measuring imagechip 116 and the quantity of light incident on the peripheral area ofthe distance measuring image chip 116 are substantially the same. Itshould be noted that, as mentioned above, the light emitted from thefirst illuminant 131 is reflected by the object C, and is then incidenton the central area of the distance measuring image chip 116 through theoptical lens 114, while light emitted from the second illuminant 132 isreflected by the object C, and is then incident on the peripheral areaof the distance measuring image chip 116 through the optical lens 114.

According to the structure as mentioned above of the illumination device130 of the first embodiment, it is possible to equalize the quantity ofincident light onto the distance measuring image chip 116 relative tothe respective portions of the focusing area, thereby improving thedetection accuracy of the object detected through the camera 112 in awider area. That is, according to this embodiment, an issue specific tooptical lens such that the distance from a detection surface to aperipheral portion is longer than the distance from the detectionsurface to a central portion as seen in the distance distribution andthe quantity of light focused into the focusing area of the distancemeasuring image chip through the lens is reduced at the peripheralportion as compared to the central portion can be solved by the controlof the illumination device 130 (the first illuminant 131 and the secondilluminant 132). The improvement of the detection accuracy according tothe control allows use of the image chip having lower dynamic range,thereby reducing the cost of the system. Since the matrix density of thelight emitting lamps arranged in the central area of the illuminationdevice 130 is set to be lower than that of the peripheral area, theradiation effect of the entire illuminant can be improved and thedurability of the illuminant can be improved simultaneously.

Hereinafter, another embodiment of the illumination device 130 of thefirst embodiment with respect to an arrangement of sectioning (dividing)a large number of light emitting lamps of an illumination device into aplurality of sections will be described with reference to FIG. 3 throughFIG. 5.

FIG. 3 shows an arrangement of an illumination device 140 of a secondembodiment. In this illumination device 140, a large number of lightemitting lamps are sectioned (divided) into nine illuminants, i.e., afirst illuminant 141, a second illuminant 142, a third illuminant 143, afourth illuminant 144, a fifth illuminant 145, a sixth illuminant 146, aseventh illuminant 147, an eighth illuminant 148, and a ninth illuminant149. In this embodiment, the respective illuminants, i.e. the firstthrough ninth illuminants 141-149 are set to have the same number oflight emitting lamps per unit area (the matrix density of light emittinglamps). Further in the illumination device 140, the light emitting modes(light quantity, light emitting pattern) of the respective illuminantsare individually controlled to be changed.

Specific controls for the illumination device 140 having theaforementioned structure will be described with reference to FIG. 4.FIG. 4 shows an illustration for explaining the control for theillumination device 140 of the second embodiment.

In FIG. 4, the first illuminant 141 of the illumination device 140 emitslight to a section “a” of a first region 140 a, as one of regions facingthe illumination device 140, which is positioned relatively near theillumination device 140 and emits light to a section “A” of a secondregion 140 b, as another one of the regions, which is positionedrelatively far from the illumination device 140. The second illuminant142 emits light to a section “b” of the first region 140 a and to asection “B” of the second region 140 b. The third illuminant 143 emitslight to a section “c” of the first region 140 a and to a section “C” ofthe second region 140 b. The fourth illuminant 144 emits light to asection “d” of the first region 140 a and to a section “D” of the secondregion 140 b. The fifth illuminant 145 emits light to a section “e” ofthe first region 140 a and to a section “E” of the second region 140 b.The sixth illuminant 146 emits light to a section “f” of the firstregion 140 a and to a section “F” of the second region 140 b. Theseventh illuminant 147 emits light to a section “g” of the first region140 a and to a section “G” of the second region 140 b. The eighthilluminant 148 emits light to a section “h” of the first region 140 aand to a section “H” of the second region 140 b. The ninth illuminant149 emits light to a section “q” of the first region 140 a and to asection “Q” of the second region 140 b.

Here, it is assumed that a vehicle occupant C1 (object) occupying avehicle seat exists at the first region 140 a relatively near theillumination device 140 and a rear wall C2 (object) exists at the secondregion 140 b relatively far from the illumination device 140. In thiscase, based on the information about distance relative to the vehicleoccupant C1 detected by the camera 112, the fifth illuminant 145 and thesixth illuminant 146 are controlled to have light quantity smaller thanthat of the other illuminants so that the vehicle occupant at the firstregion 140 a near the illumination device 140 is illuminated withrelatively weak and dark light. On the other hand, based on theinformation about distance relative to the rear wall C2 detected by thecamera 112, the first illuminant 141 through the fourth illuminant 144and the seventh illuminant 147 through the ninth illuminant 149 arecontrolled to have light quantity larger than that of the otherilluminants so that the rear wall C2 at the second region 140 b far fromthe illumination device 140 is illuminated with relatively strong andbright light. That is, in this embodiment, the light emitting modes ofthe respective illuminants of the illumination device 140 are controlledto be changed depending on the distance from the illumination device 140to the object.

According to the structure of the illumination device 140 of the secondembodiment, the respective illuminants are controlled to have variablelight quantity according to the distances relative to the objects suchas an object near and an object far from the illumination device 140,thereby equalizing the quantity of incident light (quantity of reflectedlight) to the distance measuring image chip 116 of the camera 112. Thatis, when lights emitted from the respective illuminants and reflected bythe objects are incident on the distance measuring image chip 116through the optical lens 114 of the camera 112, the quantity of lightincident on the focusing area of the distance measuring image chip canbe equalized to respective portions of the focusing area. Therefore,similarly to the illumination device 130 of the first embodiment, it ispossible to improve the accuracy of detection of objects in a widerarea. The improvement of the detection accuracy allows use of the imagechip having lower dynamic range, thereby reducing the cost of thesystem.

In this embodiment, the light emitting modes of the illuminants in theillumination device 140 can be controlled to be changed not only basedon the information about distances of objects but also based oninformation about motions of the objects and/or information aboutpositions of the objects. For example, it is assumed that the vehicleoccupant C1 existing at the sections “e” and “f” of the first region asshown in FIG. 4 moves to the section “q” of the first region 140 a. Inthis case, before the movement of the vehicle occupant C1, the fifthilluminant 145 and the sixth illuminant 146 are controlled to have lightquantity smaller than that of the other illuminants. After the movementof the vehicle occupant C1, the ninth illuminant 149 is controlled tohave reduced light quantity which is smaller than the previous lightquantity of the ninth illuminant 149 before the movement and the fifthilluminant 145 and the sixth illuminant 146 are controlled to haveincreased light quantity which is larger than the previous lightquantity of these illuminants 145, 146 before the movement.

This control enables light distribution from the illuminants whichfollows the motion of an object well. For example, for quickly and/orprecisely detecting an object, illuminant(s) corresponding to a partthat is desired to be detected of the object can be controlled toprovide strong light distribution. Therefore, the light emitting modesof the respective illuminants can be variously selected based on theorder of precedence of detection, thereby enabling construction of adetecting system having expanded versatility for various algorithms.

Changing the light emitting modes of the light emitting sections basedon at least one of the information about position, the information aboutdistance, and the information about motion derived by the processingmechanism can be accomplished by control in the illumination device 140.It should be noted that the light emitting modes of the respective lightemitting sections can be controlled to be changed based on a combinationof two or more of information about position, information aboutdistances, and information about motion derived by the processingmechanism.

FIG. 5 shows an arrangement of an illumination device 150 of a thirdembodiment. In this illumination device 150, a large number of lightemitting lamps are sectioned (divided) into three illuminants, i.e., afirst illuminant 151, a second illuminant 152, and a third illuminant153. In this embodiment, the first illuminant 151 is arranged to face adriver seat region 151 a and is thus adapted to distribute light to anobject occupying a driver seat. The second illuminant 152 is arranged toface a front passenger seat region 152 a and is thus adapted todistribute light to an object occupying a front passenger seat. Thethird illuminant 153 is arranged to face a rear seat region 153 a and isthus adapted to distribute light to an object occupying a rear seat. Inthe illumination device 150, the light emitting modes (light quantity,light emitting pattern) of the respective illuminants can be controlledto be changed individually.

According to the aforementioned structure of the illumination device 150of the third embodiment, the illuminants are arranged only at locationsrequiring light distribution, thereby enabling miniaturization of anilluminating part. In addition, the illumination device can conductlight distribution of high directivity relative to objects occupying therespective vehicle seat and is thus reasonable. The presence of anobject, for example, a vehicle occupant on each of the vehicle seats,may be detected by a camera 112 or a seat sensor. In this case, onlywhen an object occupying a vehicle seat is detected, the illuminantcorresponding to the object is controlled to be actuated. According tothis control, it is not necessary to emit light toward a vehicle seatwithout any object, thereby reducing electric power consumption andimproving the durability of the illuminants (light emitting lamps). Asfor the improvement of the durability, high effect can be obtained atthe illuminants (light emitting lamps) corresponding to the frontpassenger seat and the rear seat because these are less frequently usedthan that corresponding to the driver seat.

Information detected by the object detecting system 100 having theaforementioned structure is transmitted to the ECU 200 shown in FIG. 1(a) continuously or at regular time intervals so that the ECU 200 controlthe actuation of the occupant restraining mechanism 210. For example,the restraining performance (occupant restraining mode) by the occupantrestraining mechanism 210 such as an airbag device and a seat beltdevice is altered according to the presence, physical size, position,distance, motion, and posture of a vehicle occupant. Specifically, therestraining performance (occupant restraining mode) can be controlled tobe altered by changing the energy absorbing capacity of the airbagand/or the seat belt and/or changing the deployment speed of the airbag.

According to this embodiment, a control of actuating the occupantrestraining mechanism 210 only when there is a vehicle occupant on anyof the vehicle seats is enabled by detecting the presence of the vehicleoccupant on the vehicle seat. Therefore, undesired actuation of theoccupant restraining mechanism 210 can be prevented. When the presenceof vehicle occupants on front seats and rear seats are detected, acontrol of urging the occupant(s) not wearing a seat belt to wear theseat belt by the warning device which outputs warning signals (display,sound and so on) may also be conducted.

There may be specific issues with the optical lens such that thequantity of light focused into the focusing area of the distancemeasuring image chip 116 through the optical lens 114 is reduced at theperipheral portion and the distortion of image focused into the focusingarea of the distance measuring image chip 116 is increased at theperipheral portion as compared to the central portion. The issues canbecome significant as the viewing angle of the camera is increased.However, by using the object detecting system 100 of this embodiment asmentioned above, the issues can be solved, for example, by sectioning(dividing) the illumination device 130 into a plurality of illuminantsand individually setting the light emitting modes of the respectiveilluminants in the illumination device 130 of the first embodiment.Therefore, information about the object occupying the vehicle seat canbe detected precisely by using the photographing device 110. Theimprovement of the detection accuracy allows use of the image chiphaving lower dynamic range, thereby reducing the cost of the system.

Further, for example, in the illumination device 140 of the secondembodiment, the light emitting modes of the respective illuminants ofthe illumination device 140 are controlled to be changed based on theinformation about position(s), distance(s), and/or motion(s) of theobject(s), thereby improving the calculation accuracy of the lightquantity and the light emitting pattern.

Further, for example, in the illumination device 150 of the thirdembodiment, the first illuminant 151 facing the driver seat region 151a, the second illumination 152 facing the front passenger seat region152 a, and the third illumination 153 facing the rear seat region 153 aare provided. That is, the illuminants are arranged only at locationsrequiring light distribution, thereby enabling miniaturization of anilluminating part. In addition, the illumination device can conductlight distribution of high directivity relative to objects occupying therespective vehicle seat and is thus reasonable. In addition, based oninformation about an object occupying any of the vehicle seats, thelight emitting mode of the light emitting section corresponding to theobject can be controlled to be changed. According to this control, it isnot necessary to emit light toward a vehicle seat without any object,thereby reducing electric power consumption and improving the durabilityof the illuminants (light emitting lamps).

By using the object detecting system 100 of this embodiment, theoccupant restraining mechanism 210 can be controlled to be actuated in asuitable mode according to detection results of the object detectingsystem, thereby enabling detailed control for the occupant restrainingmechanism 210.

According to this embodiment, there is provided a vehicle mounted withthe object detecting system 100 capable of precisely detectinginformation about the object(s) occupying the vehicle seat(s) by usingthe photographing device 110.

Embodiments are not limited to the aforementioned embodiments andvarious applications and modifications may be made. For example, thefollowing respective embodiments based on the aforementioned embodimentmay be carried out.

An embodiment can employ an illumination device having a combination oftwo or more of the functions of the illumination device 130 of the firstembodiment, the illumination device 140 of the second embodiment, andthe illumination device 150 of the third embodiment.

An embodiment, the object to be detected through the camera 112 includesa vehicle occupant, an object placed on a vehicle seat, a child seat,and a junior seat. In this case, information about the object includesinformation about presence, size, position, distances, posture, motionof the object, and light emitting quantity (light distribution amount)and brightness relative to the object.

Though the aforementioned embodiment has been described with regard tothe arrangement of the object detecting system to be installed in anautomobile, embodiments can be adopted to object detecting systems to beinstalled in various vehicles other than automobile such as an airplane,a boat, a train, a bus, a truck, and the like.

The Japanese Priority Application 2006-036760, filed Feb. 14, 2006including the specification, drawings, claims and abstract, isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Given the disclosure of the present invention, one versed in the artwould appreciate that there may be other embodiments and modificationswithin the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, allmodifications attainable by one versed in the art from the presentdisclosure within the scope and spirit of the present invention are tobe included as further embodiments of the present invention. The scopeof the present invention is to be defined as set forth in the followingclaims.

1. An object detecting system comprising: a light emitting mechanismwhich emits light toward an object occupying a vehicle seat and which issectioned into a plurality of light emitting sections of which lightemitting modes are individually controlled; a control mechanism tocontrol the light emitting mechanism; a photographing mechanismincluding an optical lens and a distance measuring image chip, whereinlight emitted from the light emitting mechanism and reflected by theobject is incident on the distance measuring image chip through theoptical lens and is focused into a focusing area of the distancemeasuring image chip; and a processing mechanism to derive informationabout the object from the focused image on the distance measuring imagechip of the photographing mechanism.
 2. The object detecting system asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the light emitting modes of the respectivelight emitting sections in the light emitting mechanism are controlledsuch that the quantity of incident light on the distance measuring imagechip is equalized to respective portions of the focusing area.
 3. Theobject detecting system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lightemitting mechanism includes a first light emitting section which emitslight to be incident on a central portion of an aperture area of anobjective lens of the optical lens and a second light emitting sectionwhich emits light to be incident on a peripheral portion of the aperturearea of the objective lens such that the quantity of light emitted fromthe second light emitting section is larger than the quantity of lightemitted from the first light emitting section.
 4. The object detectingsystem as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing mechanism isadapted to derive information about position, information aboutdistance, and information about motion as the information about theobject, and wherein the control mechanism changes the light emittingmodes of the light emitting sections based on at least one of theinformation about position, the information about distance, and theinformation about motion derived by the processing mechanism.
 5. Theobject detecting system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the lightemitting mechanism includes a driver-seat-side light emitting sectionwhich emits light toward an object on a driver seat, afront-passenger-seat-side light emitting section which emits lighttoward an object on a front passenger seat, and a rear-seat-side lightemitting section which emits light toward an object on a rear seat. 6.The object detecting system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the controlmechanism, based on information about an object occupying any of thevehicle seats, changes the light emitting mode of the light emittingsection corresponding to the object.
 7. An operation device controlsystem comprising: an object detecting system, the object detectingsystem comprising: a light emitting mechanism which emits light towardan object occupying a vehicle seat and which is sectioned into aplurality of light emitting sections of which light emitting modes areindividually controlled; a control mechanism to control the lightemitting mechanism; a photographing mechanism including an optical lensand a distance measuring image chip, wherein light emitted from thelight emitting mechanism and reflected by the object is incident on thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens and is focusedinto a focusing area of the distance measuring image chip; and aprocessing mechanism to derive information about the object from thefocused image on the distance measuring image chip of the photographingmechanism; an operation device which is operated based on theinformation about the object occupying the vehicle seat derived by theprocessing mechanism of the object detecting system; and an actuationcontrol mechanism to control the actuation of the operation device. 8.The control system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the light emittingmodes of the respective light emitting sections in the light emittingmechanism are controlled such that the quantity of incident light on thedistance measuring image chip is equalized to respective portions of thefocusing area.
 9. The control system as claimed in claim 8, wherein thelight emitting mechanism includes a first light emitting section whichemits light to be incident on a central portion of an aperture area ofan objective lens of the optical lens and a second light emittingsection which emits light to be incident on a peripheral portion of theaperture area of the objective lens such that the quantity of lightemitted from the second light emitting section is larger than thequantity of light emitted from the first light emitting section.
 10. Thecontrol system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the processing mechanismis adapted to derive information about position, information aboutdistance, and information about motion as the information about theobject, and wherein the control mechanism changes the light emittingmodes of the light emitting sections based on at least one of theinformation about position, the information about distance, and theinformation about motion derived by the processing mechanism.
 11. Thecontrol system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the light emittingmechanism includes a driver-seat-side light emitting section which emitslight toward an object on a driver seat, a front-passenger-seat-sidelight emitting section which emits light toward an object on a frontpassenger seat, and a rear-seat-side light emitting section which emitslight toward an object on a rear seat.
 12. The control system as claimsin claim 11, wherein the control mechanism, based on information aboutan object occupying any of the vehicle seats, changes the light emittingmode of the light emitting section corresponding to the object.
 13. Avehicle comprising: an engine/running system; an electrical system; anactuation control device for conducting the actuation control of theengine/running system and the electrical system; and an object detectingmechanism for detecting information about an object occupying a vehicleseat, wherein the object detecting mechanism comprises an objectdetecting system including: a light emitting mechanism which emits lighttoward an object occupying a vehicle seat and which is sectioned into aplurality of light emitting sections of which light emitting modes areindividually controlled; a control mechanism to control the lightemitting mechanism; a photographing mechanism including an optical lensand a distance measuring image chip, wherein light emitted from thelight emitting mechanism and reflected by the object is incident on thedistance measuring image chip through the optical lens and is focusedinto a focusing area of the distance measuring image chip; and aprocessing mechanism to derive information about the object from thefocused image on the distance measuring image chip of the photographingmechanism.
 14. The vehicle as claimed in claim 13, wherein the lightemitting modes of the respective light emitting sections in the lightemitting mechanism are controlled such that the quantity of incidentlight on the distance measuring image chip is equalized to respectiveportions of the focusing area.
 15. The vehicle as claimed in claim 14,wherein the light emitting mechanism includes a first light emittingsection which emits light to be incident on a central portion of anaperture area of an objective lens of the optical lens and a secondlight emitting section which emits light to be incident on a peripheralportion of the aperture area of the objective lens such that thequantity of light emitted from the second light emitting section islarger than the quantity of light emitted from the first light emittingsection.
 16. The vehicle as claimed in claim 13, wherein the processingmechanism is adapted to derive information about position, informationabout distance, and information about motion as the information aboutthe object, and wherein the control mechanism changes the light emittingmodes of the light emitting sections based on at least one of theinformation about position, the information about distance, and theinformation about motion derived by the processing mechanism.
 17. Thevehicle as claimed in claim 13, wherein the light emitting mechanismincludes a driver-seat-side light emitting section which emits lighttoward an object on a driver seat, a front-passenger-seat-side lightemitting section which emits light toward an object on a front passengerseat, and a rear-seat-side light emitting section which emits lighttoward an object on a rear seat.
 18. The vehicle as claimed in claim 17,wherein the control mechanism, based on information about an objectoccupying any of the vehicle seats, changes the light emitting mode ofthe light emitting section corresponding to the object.